Entertainment · Film · 3 hrs ago
Indonesian Thriller Follows Student Activists Under Suharto
The film follows Laut, a university student in Indonesia who becomes involved in political activism in the 1990s.
He joins Kinan’s campus group, which discusses books banned by the state.
As the students move from discussion to organized resistance, the government responds with force.
Laut changes his name and goes into hiding, leaving his family worried about him.
In 1998, government operatives seize him from his Jakarta apartment.
The story is set in the final years of Suharto’s military dictatorship, when student resistance challenged the government.
The film honors activists who risked their lives for change, even when they did not live to see its results.
Yosep Anggi Noen’s film “The Sea Speaks His Name” follows student resistance to Suharto’s rule in Indonesia.
Adapted from Leila S. Chudori’s novel, the political thriller is set mainly in the 1990s.
Reza Rahadian plays Laut, an activist who joins a student resistance movement with Kinan and other students.
The film opens with government operatives seizing Laut in Jakarta in 1998, then returns to his student years in Yogyakarta.
The film is playing in competition at the Busan Film Festival.
- Who
- Student activist Laut, played by Reza Rahadian, and the student activists around him.
- What
- The Sea Speaks His Name” is a political thriller about student resistance and disappearances under Suharto.
- When
- The story spans events from 1991 to 1998. The film was reported on October 12, 2026.
- Where
- Indonesia, including Yogyakarta and Jakarta; the film is playing at the Busan Film Festival.
- Why
- Laut and his fellow students oppose state oppression and decide that discussion alone is not enough.
Student activists
Suharto’s government
Response to state oppression
Student activists
The activists organize and commit to a more active resistance movement.
Suharto’s government
The government responds to their activism with force, and operatives seize Laut.
In this country, books are threats.
Laut, a university student in Yogyakarta, meets Kinan and joins her discussion group.
Laut, Kinan and their fellow students move from discussion to active resistance.
Government operatives seize Laut at his Jakarta apartment.
- Director
- Yosep Anggi Noen
- Source novel
- The Sea Speaks His Name” by Leila S. Chudori
- Lead actor
- Reza Rahadian plays Laut
- Student activist
- Kinan is played by Dian Sastrowardoyo
- Setting
- Indonesia, mainly the 1990s
- Film festival
- Busan Film Festival competition
Sources
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